Walmart Canada spending $175 million to improve stores across the country

Signage at a Laval, Que., Walmart store is seen on May 3, 2016. Walmart Canada says it will spend $175 million to help improve its stores across the country and better improve the integration between its e-commerce business and physical locations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Walmart Canada says it will spend $175 million to help upgrade its stores across the country and improve the integration between its e-commerce business and physical locations.

The company plans to renovate 23 stores by February 2019 in a move that it says will create more than 2,500 construction jobs.

In addition to updating the physical appearance of the stores, Walmart plans to make changes to help its online shopping business such as dedicated parking spaces for online grocery pickup and new areas in stores devoted to online orders.

The store upgrades come as Walmart has been working to improve its e-commerce operations including its online grocery shopping business.

The company has started offering one-hour grocery delivery in parts of Toronto and in Winnipeg in a partnership with Instacart. It has also been expanding its grocery pickup service.